To act as a despot; to govern despotically or to subject someone to despotic rule.
From despot (noun) with the suffix -ize (to make or cause to be). The -ize suffix is one of the most productive in English, allowing verbs to be created from nouns and adjectives to describe actions related to those concepts.
The verb 'despotize' is so rare that using it feels almost like creating a word on the spot—yet it perfectly demonstrates English's flexible ability to turn any noun into an action word. Most speakers would just say 'rule despotically' instead.
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